The 20 most visited Italian cities of the world

This post is also available in: Italiano

“And how could one not love Italy? (…) I think that every man has two homelands; one is the more personal, closer one and the other one is : Italy” (Henryk Sienkiewicz) 

Italy is a land so full of marvel, that has deserved the name “Bel Paese” (beautiful country) worldwide. There are many foreigners who choose to visit the most fascinating places of the Peninsula in each season and there are always more Italians that want to deepen the knowledge of their own roots , planning a tour that brings them to discover one of the first countries in terms of landscape beauty and cultural heritage.

The most chosen Italian cities by tourists, among big classics and appreciated surprises.

Istat has recently provided the data on the foreign tourists’ visits in Italy, illustrating the number of visitors for each Italian city. Culture, sea and nature: these are the main ingredients that the tourists demonstrate to appreciate in Italy. Here are the most visited Italian cities of the world.

1. Rome

With 25 million of foreign visitors a year, Rome is in the lead in the charts of the most loved Italian cities by the tourists that come from all the world. Among Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica and Trevi Fountain, the Italian capital remains the Eternal City for excellence.

You might be interested: most beautiful monuments of Rome

2. Milan

The Cathedral is the most traditional symbol of Milan, that lures almost 11 million visitors every year. Year by year, Milan is accomplishing that internalisation process that brought it to be among the most desirable cities by foreign tourists.

You might be interested:  what to visit in Milan

3. Venice

Venice is a unique city. Italians know it and so do the 10 million people, that choose it as final destination of a romantic trip in Italy. Art, timeless charm and fairy-tale location make Venice one of the Italian excellences, reason why the tourists would be willing to do follies in order to live it even only for few hours.

4. Florence

After many centuries, the quadrilateral, composed by the Cathedral, the Campanile, the Dome and the Baptistery, attracts about 9 million visitors a year. Florence has been renamed the Cradle of the Renaissance, for having hosted, in close ages, artists such as Giotto, Vasari; Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti. A curiosity: Uffizi Gallery is present in the charts of the most visited museums of the world.

5. Rimini

Italy is a population of saints, poets and sailors. In addition to the art, the sea vocation has still a very strong impact among the foreign tourists, who has chosen Rimini as their favourite destination. During the last year, the city of the Romagna Riviera has hosted 7 million people.

6. Cavallino-Treporti

Surprise. The almost unknown place Cavallino-Treporti is in the sixth position of the top 20 most visited cities of the world. 6 million tourists have chosen Cavallino-Treporti as their destination. The secret? The central position in Venice lagoon, that makes it a perfect crossing point for the visit to the other little islands of Venice lagoon.

7. Jesolo

This time Venice has almost nothing to do with it. It’s certainly for the lure of the lagoon city that the tourists choose the golden sand of its shore- one of the longest of Italy- to spend one or two weeks for the seaside holidays. In the charts it is in the seventh position and it’s the second place, behind Cavallino-Treporti, to revolve around Venetian orbit.

8. San Michele al Tagliamento

Venice’s province is the absolute protagonist of the positions from the number 5 to 10 of the special charts that gather the 20 most visited Italian cities of the world. The third place in the list, if Venice is excluded, it’s San Michele al Tagliamento. So, as Jesolo, has up to 5 million foreign tourists every year. The flagship is the district of Bibione, among the most popular seaside places of Veneto region. 

9. Caorle

Less than 30 km from San Michele al Tagliamento, there is Caorle, that is in the top 10 thanks to the 4 million foreign tourists. It’s a record for Venice’s province, that can insert four different places of the Venetian county seat in the charts. Caorle is a perfect destination for who desires to sojourn close to Venice, saving on the hotel cost, and to visit one of the most beautiful historic villages of Italy.

10. Turin

From the Museum of the Holy Shroud to the Egyptian Museum, holy and profane get together in Turin, the city called magic by the residents and the tourists. Over than 3 million people visit it every year, and they have the chance to live a weekend or more days at the myth of the Fiat, the Italian automotive industry that has become in time an essential pillar of our economy.

You might interested:What to visiti in Turin

11. Riccione

Singers and artists have elected it as the Italian capital of the amusement. Riccione, after Rimini, is the seaside place for excellence. Romagna Riviera is one of the absolute certainties in the tourist sector, able to lure an impressive number of tourists, entirely gathered in the warmest months of the summer season. 

12. Lignano Sabbiadoro

Lignano Sabbiadoro, the twin sister of Jesolo and Bibione, doesn’t share only with them the province. Indeed, it is in the area that refers to Udine. With less than 3,5 million foreign tourists a year, Lignano Sabbiadoro conquers the twelfth position in the charts. 

13. Cervia

If in the top 10 the constant was represented by Venice and its satellite locations, the second part of the charts sees the insertion of the Romagna Riviera. After Rimini and Riccione, it’s the turn of Cervia, visited by more than 3 million foreigners during the 12 months. And it’s not the last city of the riviera to be present in the classification drafted by Istat.

14. Lazise

Among the many enchanting villages that reflect on the lake of Garda, Lazise is the most visited one, with over 3 million arrivals every year. Beyond the beauty of the little village, Lazise wins on all the others for its strategic position and for the proximity to the amusement park Gardaland.

15. Naples

After Rome, Venice and Florence, Naples is the fifth city for number of inhabitants more visited by foreign tourists that come from the East and the West. From Spaccanapoli, the street that dramatically splits in half the old town of the Neapolitan city, to the landscape on the Vesuvio, Naples offers the best of itself in its many charming contradictions.  

16. Cesenatico

In the north of Rimini and Riccione, the reign of the riviera meets Cesenatico, chosen by almost 3 million people every year for a summer sojourn following the two undisputed queens. Cesenatico is the city of the unforgettable Marco Pantani, the strongest Italian cyclist of all the time, who has got closer to the cycling, many Italians.  

17. Ravenna

Over 2 million and half tourists each year reach Ravenna to discover its gems and to start a cultural tour with many sides. The most interesting places in Ravenna are the Basilica of San Vitale, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare and the Mausoleum of Galla Placida. And can’t be forgotten the amusement park Mirabilandia. 

18. Bologna

Bologna deserves the name of Italian capital of the food. Not by chance, in the three nicknames of Emilia Romagna’s county seat, appears also “The Fat”. The tourists love it also for its huge square (Piazza Maggiore) and the enchanting old town that has preserved its medieval origins.

19. Sorrento

Amalfi Coast is every year a destination of more than 2 million tourists, most of them from the United States of America. Sorrento donates a magnificent landscape on the sea, opposite to the bay of Naples, observed from the Vesuvio.

20. Peschiera del Garda

Two million visitors a year for the enchanting Peschiera del Garda, close to the most suggestive lake of Italy and to the amusement park Gardaland. Not no mention that Sirmione, the gem of the lake of Garda, is at only 10 km by car.

 

This post is also available in: Italiano